When in Rome

Photo:Inside
the amazing Vatican, Rome, Italy

By Amanda Barnes

The Colosseum,
the Vatican, the Forum... where to start? Well, wherever you start
you will end up with sore feet. There is a lot of walking in Rome,
but fortunately there are a lot of espresso cafes and pastry shops
to help you along the way! Rome's old town is very walkable, not
only because of its compact size but also because of the beautiful
sights that you inevitably stumble across along the way. Rome is
an artists dream with ancient ruins and grandiose palaces scattered
across the picturesque city, but the art of Rome is how these monuments
of old sit so comfortably along side the coffee shops, designer
labels and street markets of modern day Rome. Rome is one of those
cities that actually has got something for everyone from renaissance
paintings and a quiet walk in the park, to the hectic cosmopolitan
lifestyle of the modern Roman.

There is no shortage of ‘culture' in Rome
and whether you enjoy sightseeing or not, the famous sights of Rome
cannot be missed. The Colosseum is
a perfect place to start with its central location and its close
vicinity to many other sights. The Colosseum
is always crowded from the moment it opens to when you are kicked
out, but the best time to visit it is without a doubt for the last
admission in the early evening. Not only are there fewer crowds
but the view over the forum at sunset from the window of the Colosseum
is awe-inspiring.

The Colosseum has been looted, damaged and
collapsed and although you can still imagine gladiators and lions
chasing each others heels inside, it is well worth joining a guided
tour in order to fully appreciate the design and history of its
crumbling walls. As you meander outside the Colosseum you are usually
approached by the tour guide groups who offer an entertaining tour,
entrance and queue jump for around €14 (you can normally get
this price down if you can convince them that someone else offered
you a tour for cheaper). The tour guides are a lot of fun, usually
Italian men with a comic grasp of English, whose funny phrasing
will confuse and humour you. It is easy to see why this is one of
the most visited sights in Europe, however as a consequence there
is a bit of a tourist circus around it and people do try to rip
you off — especially those in gladiator costumes who demand
a hefty €10 per photo!

To avoid the masses, visit the Colosseum in the evening, when it
is closed! Although fascinating from the inside, the Colosseum also
needs to be fully appreciated from the outside. The ring is lit
up tastefully and the lack of umbrella-holding Japanese tourist
groups makes it terribly romantic (despite the fact that it was
essentially a place of barbaric sports and whoring!) The small patch
of green outside the Colosseum lends itself to the perfect spot
for a picnic — although a toilet can be quite hard to find
after a few bottles of wine! If the amazing ruins and architecture
don't interest you, then all the wedding parties posing outside
the Colosseum will certainly keep you entertained throughout the
evening!
The forum is also especially good to visit in the lazy glow of the
early evening, as it casts beautiful shadows across its own walls
to show off its compelling architecture. However the best tour is
offered by young Romans who will gladly show you where a ladder
has been hidden for years, in order to climb over the wall and have
a private viewing at 3am!

Although Rome is beautiful by night, the Vatican City has to be
seen during the day — unless you have an invite from the Pope.
The best way to beat the crowds is again by arriving just before
last admission. The entrance queue does trail around the block a
number of times, however it is relatively fast moving — and
is certainly quick considering it is a border control for an entirely
different state! The collections in the Vatican museums have taken
hundreds of years to be accumulated and it would take you quite
a few years to view them properly. Every wall is dripping with luxurious
artwork painted on every spare square inch – and that is just
the decor! The collections themselves are vast and exhaustive! Everything
in the museum has been collected by a Pope and they all seem to
share, to say the least, ‘eclectic' taste, from the Egyptian
museum to the Raphael rooms to the bizarre room dedicated to dogs
in the act of violence or fornication! The Vatican museums do deliver
a fantastic entertainment factor and at times it does feel like
you are walking around your crazy uncle's attic full of random things
he has collected over the years — although this isn't your
uncle's attic, they are the ‘attics' of some of the world's
most important religious leaders, but nevertheless full of their
random collections over the years!

The walls of the museums are so exquisitely decorated that as you
meander through them you continually wonder whether you have been
through the Sistine chapel yet. But when you do reach the Sistine
chapel, after a very long walk through the many isles and isles
of the museums, you will know you are there! There could not be
another chapel in the world that has received so much attention
to detail, to the point that there is not a spot of wall left unpainted!
The Sistine chapel has been decorated and redecorated by some of
the world's greatest painters which results in a jaw-dropping (if
not slightly garish) explosion of fine art at its finest!

The Sistine chapel is one of the many triumphs of Michelangelo and
Rafael among others; however it is by no means the only triumph.
It would seem that almost the entire city of Rome has been designed
by some of the world's most amazing artists. The Basilica di Santa
Maria del Popolo (one of the many Basilica di Santa Maria's) behind
Stazione Termini is one of the more underrated but nevertheless
extraordinary art works in Rome. The architecture of the Basilica,
partly designed by Raphael, is engrossing and can only be appreciated
fully after walking around the outside of the church at least ten
times! It is a wonderfully obscure looking building with typically
lavish décor (by Caravaggio) with cherubs literally coming
out of the paintings.

Saint Peters is also a very impressive church, along with the very
impressive queue size, however it is easy to wile away your wait
on the piazza watching the terribly amusing huge family of pigeons
that resides there. Although Saint Peters is impressive, the walk
behind the piazza is also pretty exceptional. The sheer number of
Pope Memorabilia shops is unbelievable and you can buy anything
from a mini Vatican City fridge magnet to an entire replica pope
outfit!

Rome is full of charismatic and important land marks to the point
that you never really need to leave, but to escape the heat and
bombardment of monument upon monument, it is worth catching the
train just out of Rome to visit what used to be a retreat for the
wealthy Romans, the quaint and alluring town of Tivoli. An hour's
bus or train journey through the rolling countryside brings you
to this gorgeous quiet town with winding cobbled streets, narrow
sloping houses and the tranquil Villa d'Este. The villa alone is
stunning with its rich renaissance paintings and gorgeous views,
but the real draw here are the luscious green gardens and their
fountains. To say it has a few fountains is an understatement, there
is water gushing from every corner anointing grand statues and often
spraying those walking by! This is a memorable day trip with magnetizing
views across the Italian landscape and more ancient ruins in the
distance, and is especially welcoming on a hot summer's day or for
the evening during the summer programme of live jazz.

The fountains within Rome are also very calming amongst the bustle
of the city. The Trevi fountains have to be visited, although they
are often very crowded and for the optimum viewing it is best to
go late at night when there are less people and the water is lit
up. Despite being quieter at night, there are still people at the
fountains (usually a young friendly crowd enjoying the view with
bottle of wine!) however it is still guarded by armed police men,
although a ‘La Dolce Vita' moment may seem like a good idea
at the time, it should probably be avoided!
There are so many captivating look out points all over Rome, one
of the best is from the large park Villa Borghese where the view
stretches from San Pietro to Arco di Costantino and the majority
of Rome's sights can be located. Rome has a vast number of fantastic
monuments, some subtle and many terribly unsubtle (young Romans
often call the imposing Vittoriano the ‘white monstrosity')
however the parts of modern day Rome are also enchanting.

The steep maze of narrow streets above the Spanish steps and around
Villa Borghese provide a lovely walk around towering flats, hanging
laundry, worn-out cobbles and artists crouched over canvases on
every corner. Similarly below the Spanish steps the streets are
beckoning to be wandered with their mandarin painted houses and
cosy candle lit cafes, the perfect place to watch the city roll
by. This is also the area for shopping (or window shopping as the
case may be) at all the famous Italian designers boutiques, with
Gucci, Cavalli, Moschino, Fendi and Versace all lined up for the
picking. More economical shopping is also readily available, high
street stores and colourful street markets are filled with lively
clothes, shoes and leather goods and Rome is the best place to buy
your fake designer sunglasses with stalls on literally every corner!

In the evening, street drinking is by far the most popular and authentic
way of enjoying a night out Roman style! The piazzas in Trastevere
are always packed with a young friendly crowd and often live music
accompanies. Alcohol can be bought from gelaterias, pizzerias
and bars and a large beer will set you back one mere euro. Around
the Stazione Termini is also a popular hang out, but girls should
try to be accompanied by a male in order to avoid unwanted attention.
There are pub crawls organised for young travellers every night,
however the ‘pubs' you visit are aimed for and mainly used
by tourists and pick pocketing is a common occurrence.

Getting around Rome is fairly easy, it is often quicker to walk
but if your feet are too tired the bus service is good and the metro
runs until quite late. A 90 minute travel ticket costs €1.20
and covers all types of transport, although at night the metro barriers
are rarely guarded, so a ticket is not always necessary! Accommodation
in Rome is varied and there is plenty of it, from five-star luxury
to very budget hostels. Both ‘Rome' airports are about a forty
minute bus ride out of the city and it is easy to catch the bus
from Stazione Termini, avoid airline operated coaches who charge
ten times the fare of a regular bus ticket to do the exact same
journey! The train station is easy to navigate but if you are in
a rush there is only one ticket booth (despite being the Italian
capital city!) and queues can take a while, it is better to purchase
your ticket from a machine if you can work it out — or get
an Italian to work it out for you! Although there are worse train
stations to be waiting in, with a whole shopping mall surrounding
it and slices of pizza for next to nothing, there is plenty to occupy
your time with!

Rome boasts some fantastic culinary delights and with its huge number
of foreigners, Italian is not the only food on the menu. However,
the pasta here is taken quite seriously and needs to be tried many,
many times. Be prepared to have to pick from at least thirty types
of pasta and at least thirty types of sauce! ‘Pasta Mio' (13
Via Veneto) is a popular pasta place with the Italians and has a
large variety, but be warned the Italian waiters may offer women
a free massage; it is all part of the Italian... ‘charm'!
Many good restaurants can be found down the narrow back alleys of
Rome, the main streets normally house overpriced restaurants catering
for tourists — the best restaurants are the ones without a
translated menu, here you usually receive a more authentic meal
(and occasionally a slightly surprising meal if your Italian is
poor!)

Rome is undeniably beautiful and exudes a typical Italian simplicity
and charm alongside the complex and awe-inspiring architecture and
art. It certainly wasn't built in a day, but it won't take much
more than one day for you to fall in love with it!